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VA doctor accused of overprescribing has set up practice

The VA is looking into the circumstances surrounding the opiate death of a veteran at the Tomah VA Medical Center

VA doctor accused of overprescribing has set up practice

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Updated: 10:53 AM CDT Jun 18, 2016

MADISON, Wis. —

A former Wisconsin VA doctor accused of overprescribing opiates has set up a private psychiatry practice in La Crosse while disciplinary proceedings against his medical license drag on.

Dr. David Houlihan was fired from the Tomah VA Medical Center in November following a federal investigation that found some patients called him "candy man" for allegedly handing out excess narcotics. Wisconsin's Medical Examining Board is investigating his practices and the death of a VA patient he treated in 2014.

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Physicians are typically allowed to keep their medical licenses during such investigations in Wisconsin, but veterans' advocates have raised concerns about Houlihan. The board suspended his license in March amid reports he was practicing, saying he "failed to act as a minimally competent and reasonable physician." But an administrative law judge reinstated it, allowing him to practice until a final determination is made.

"I think there's ample information out there about the harm he's done to patients," Ryan Honl, a whistleblower who spoke out against practices at the VA medical center in Tomah, said Friday. "I guess you just have to hope that patients will do a Google search on their doctors before they go see him."

The website for Houlihan's clinic lists him as its only doctor. The clinic repeatedly hung up when called by The Associated Press and didn't return voicemails. Houlihan's attorney, Frank Doherty, also didn't return messages Friday seeking comment.

VA investigators determined in 2014 that doctors at the Tomah VA were over-prescribing opioids. Months after the investigation closed, 35-year-old Marine veteran Jason Simcakoski died from "mixed drug toxicity" at the facility. He died days after Houlihan added another opiate to the 14 drugs Simcakoski was already prescribed.

A U.S. Senate committee investigation released in May found that VA investigators suspected that Houlihan and a nurse practitioner "appeared to be impaired" when interviewed in 2012, but no action was taken. Doherty, Houlihan's attorney, has said those claims were "nonsense."

A final medical board decision could take months. A status hearing on the investigation of Simcakoski's death is set for July 21, according to Department of Safety and Professional Services official Jeffrey Weigand. The department oversees the medical board.